Law Overturned Barring Marijuana Vote in D.C.

By Arthur Santana Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, March 29, 2002; Page B01

A federal judge in Washington yesterday overturned a law prohibiting D.C. residents from circulating or voting on a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, clearing the way for the measure to be put on the ballot, possibly as early as November.

Proponents of the medical use of marijuana went to court in December seeking an injunction barring enforcement of the federal law, which effectively blocked D.C. residents from putting the issue before voters. The ban was enacted by Congress in 1998 after an identical legalization initiative was placed on the ballot and set off a home rule confrontation with federal lawmakers.

If 16,000 valid signatures are collected and certified by July 5, the medical marijuana initiative could be on the November ballot -- although the timeline is tight. If D.C. voters support it as they have in the past, the nation's capital would become the ninth U.S. jurisdiction to abolish criminal sanctions for those who use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The measure would legalize the cultivation, possession, use and distribution of marijuana for seriously ill patients whose physicians recommend its use.

The prohibition against letting D.C. voters consider legalizing marijuana was known as the Barr Amendment. It was named after its sponsor, Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.), who attached an annual rider to the District's appropriation bill that prevented public funds from being used to put the issue on any city ballot.

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